2- Influences on Business Flashcards

1
Q

What does ICT stand for?

A

Information and Communications Technology

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2
Q

Give three advantages of a business using ICT

& examples

A
  • Faster communication between people
  • More efficient as computers do jobs more quickly
  • Reduced costs in the long term as fewer man hours needed to carry out tasks
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3
Q

Give two disadvantages of a business using ICT

& examples

A
  • Can be very expensive to buy equipment
  • May have to hire expert staff
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4
Q

What is E-commerce?

A

E-commerce is using the internet to buy or sell products

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5
Q

What is the main advantage of E-commerce?

A

The main advantage of E-commerce is that the business can reach wider markets (compared to traditional shops)

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6
Q

Give one disadvantage of E-commerce

A

Businesses face new competition from online businesses, making it harder to get noticed

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7
Q

What effect has digital communication had on businesses?

A

Digital communication has increased communication between collegues

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8
Q

List all the examples of how businesses have changed the way they communicate with their stakeholders

A
  • Social Media
  • Websites
  • Mobile Apps
  • Email
  • Video Calls
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9
Q

How do businesses use social media to communicate with stakeholders?

A

Businesses use social media to to advertise and promote their products to customers as well as to provide customer service

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10
Q

How do businesses use websites to communicate with stakeholders?

A

Websites allow customers to interact with a business (e.g. live chat) and learn about their products (e.g. FAQs, blog)

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11
Q

How do businesses use mobile apps to communicate with stakeholders?

A

Mobile apps are used for businesses to communicate with their customers about where the business’ stores are located, information about the business’ products, and sometimes used to sell their products

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12
Q

How do businesses use emails to communicate with stakeholders?

A

Emails allow businesses to communicate with customers on a personal level, or on a bigger scale (such as sending an email to all employees)

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13
Q

How do businesses use video calls to communicate with stakeholders?

A

Video calls can be used to communicate with employees and other stakeholders (like shareholders) to have important conversations whilst in different countries

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14
Q

What does it mean for a business to be acting ethically?

A

A business acting ethically acts in ways that stakeholders consider to be both fair and honest

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15
Q

Give 4 examples of ethical considerations for a business

A
  • Not exploiting workers
  • Not testing their developing products on animals
  • Paying them a fair wage
  • Buying Fairtrade products
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16
Q

What are the benefits of ethical behaviour?

A
  • Firms can change their marketing to emphasise on their ethical policies. This develops a positive public image and increases sales
  • Treating staff ethically is more likely to increase staff motivation
  • Shareholders are more likely to invest in an ethical business as it gives them a moral purpose
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17
Q

What are the drawbacks of ethical behaviour?

A
  • It can be costly for the firm (e.g. to pay all workers fairly - higher labour costs)
  • It can be difficult to find suppliers with ethically sourced materials
  • These higher prices may lead to lower sales
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18
Q

Give 3 examples of impacts a business can have on the environment?

A
  • Businesses can cause traffic congestion because of their staff, delivery drivers and consumers
  • Businesses can cause noise and air pollution from manufacturing machinery
  • Businesses can cause an increase/decrease of wastage due to packaging
19
Q

Define Sustainability

A

Sustainability is the process of operating without damaging the environment or depleting natural resources for future generations

20
Q

What are the two major worries about sustainability?

A
  • Resource depletion
  • Global warming
21
Q

How can businesses imrpove their sustainability?

A

Businesses can improve their sustainability by :
- Using renewable energy resources
- Trying to reduce their CO2 emmissions

22
Q

What is the advantage of a business being environmentally friendly

A

It can give a business a competitive advantage, as a green image can attract new customers and increase sales.

23
Q

What is the disadvantage of a business being environmentally friendly

A

It can be expensive to buy new equipment and develop new processes

24
Q

How and why may businesses be affected by changes in levels of employment

A
  • If there are high levels of unemployment, people have less money to spend. This leads to a lack of demand and a fall in sales
  • However, some businesses may experience an increase in sales as consumers switch to cheaper alternatives
  • If there are high levels of unemployment, some businesses may be able to benefit as they can pay lower wages because many people are desperate for a job
25
Q

How does the demand for products and services change as incomes fluctuate?

A
  • As customer income increases, people have more money to spend. This means that demand for many goods and services will increase as consumers look to spend their extra money
  • As customer income decreases, people will spend more money on needs and have less money to spend on wants. This means that the demand for these products will go down and businesses that provide wants will suffer
  • However, businesses that sell goods at cheap or discounted prices will benefit from consumer incomes fall as people try to buy things for as cheap as possible
26
Q

What types of businesses are most likely to suffer from incomes fall?

A

Businesses providing wants and ‘luxury’ goods

27
Q

How do high interest rates affect people?

A

High interest rates mean that:
- Borrowers will have to pay more back for what was borrowed
- Savers will recieve more interest on their money
and vice versa

28
Q

How does fluctuating interest rates affect businesses & consumers?

A

When interest rates are low:
- More companies will borrow more and save less as it is cheaper to do so
- Consumers are less likely so save and more likely to spend, so the demand goes up
- Businesses that rely on overdrafts and loans will have smaller interest repayments, and will have more money to spend on other parts of the business

When interest rates are high:
- Consumers are more likely to save less likely to spend
- Businesses that rely on overdrafts and loans will have bigger interest repayments, and will have less money to spend on other parts of the business

29
Q

What is globalisation?

A

Globalisation is the process where businesses operate worldwide

30
Q

What are the benefits of globalisation for UK businesses?

A
  • Larger markets, so increased sales and higher profits
  • There are reduced costs as businesses can import from other countries where labour costs may be lower
  • It can reduce transport costs if they’re producing goods closer to where raw materials are produced
31
Q

What are the drawbacks of globalisation for UK businesses?

A
  • Increased competition
  • Higher wages in the UK means that UK businesses can’t compete with foreign businesses on pricing as they have less profit
  • UK companies that setup factories abroad to benefit from cheap labour but may gain bad publicity
  • (Foreign currencies?)
32
Q

How do UK businesses compete internationally?

A

Uk businesses compete internationally by:
- Investing heavily into better designs
- Producing higher quality products than other countries at lower prices

33
Q

What is a strong pound?

A

A strong pound means that the pound can buy a lot of another currency

34
Q

What is a weak pound?

A

A weak pound means that the pound cannot buy a lot of another currency compared to what it could purchase when it was stronger

35
Q

Explain the impacts of a strong pound

A

-£1 can buy more of a product coming from overseas so it becomes cheaper. Imports Cheaper

-It costs someone overseas more to buy products made here, so exports are more expensive and reduce. Exports Decline

SPICED- (Stronger Pound, Imports Cheaper, Exports Decline)

36
Q

Explain the impacts of a weak pound

A

-£1 buys less of the products coming from overseas, so it is more expensive, so less is imported. Imports Decline

-It costs someone overseas less to buy products made here as their currency can buy more pounds. Exports Cheaper

WPIDEC- (Weak Pound, Imports Decline, Exports Cheaper)

37
Q

What is a monopoly?

A

A market which is dominated by 1 seller or producer.

38
Q

What does M-commerce stand?
What does it mean?
Give examples.

A

Mobile-commerce
Buying and selling goods through a wireless and handheld device.
Examples are Apple Pay and Uber

39
Q

What does USP stand for?
What does USP mean?
How does the USP benefit the business?

A

Unique Selling Point
A feature of a product/service that is unique.
It increases its value so higher price and attracts more customers.

40
Q

What are the 4 Key legislations?

A

-National Minimum/Living Wage
-Equality Act
-Health and Safety at Work Act
-Trade Descriptions Act

41
Q

What is the National Minimum/Living Wage?
What would it mean for businesses?

A

-Sets up a minimum a worker can be paid depending on their age.
-Raising minimum wage will increase costs and possibly reduce workforce

42
Q

When was the Equality Act introduced?
What does the Equality Act do?

A

-Made in 2010
-Protects from discrimination from employers

43
Q

When was the Health and Safety at Work Act introduced?
What does it do?

A

-1974
-Duties of employer and employee in creating a safe working environment
-Makes the company look as a good employer
This can lead to better retention of staff, low recruitment costs, better reputations, easier to employ skilled workers

44
Q

When was the Trade Description Act introduced?
What does it do?

A

-1968
-Prevents businesses from misleading customers
- So customers don’t lose their money or receive poor quality goods/services.